...just a dream?

Back in March, I posted a question about finding a new career once I am done with my cancer treatments. At the time I was advised on checking out various websites and discovering my 'inner' opportunities and challenges. Well, it came to me today and now I realize what I would love to do.

Throughout this 'journey' (seriously..there HAS to be a better word!) I kept a blog that people responded well too. I've also talked to other cancer patients. While not everyone is comfortable talking about their challenges, they do seem to relate when it can be expressed for them...and on that note....!

I was wondering what it takes to be a motivational speaker? I feel that there is a need in the cancer community for a person to be able to address the issues that have and are currently facing patients. The brochures and websites just don't cover what is actually experienced. I also feel that each individual deals with their own particular situation in their own way, but express relief in knowing that someone out there 'gets' it and is not afraid to talk about it...in an often humorous way.

This is my dream. After a seemingly lifetime in retailing, and the various brainwashing techniques that are used to scrub any imagination or dreams out of you (lol), I have found mine....

NOW what do I do?

Seriously, I will accept any and all advice that is given (both positive and negative). This challenge for me would feed my inner soul and would let me use my experiences and others as well, to help people....which is ultimately what I want to do.

2 Comments

Cancer and Careers Staff Comment:

Hi Nadine,

Thanks for reaching out and congratulations on determining what type of work you would like to do! I have sent your question over to our career coaches who will be in touch soon.

In the meantime, if you haven't already, I would recommend checking out the various resources and information under the Looking For Work section of our site: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work

Career Coach Comment:

I suggest you join your local chapter of the National
Speakers Association. The NSA website www.nsaspeaker.org has a wealth of
information where you should be able to locate a chapter near you.

Second, you need to develop your speaking skills. I suggest you watch TED talks www.ted.com to see examples of popular and
successful talks.

Third, you need to craft one or two talks that really shine. To help you out, here
is the five step model for presentation success that I cover in a three-day
workshop on presentations skills.

Determine
your message.

Analyze
your audience.

Organize
your information for impact.

Design
supporting visuals.

Practice,
practice, practice.

Ask yourself these questions to help you determine your message:

What
do you want or need to communicate?

What
information does the audience need?

Why
do they need it?

At
the end of the presentation, what should the audience: Understand?
Remember? Do?

Determine the best way to communicate your message by analyzing
your audience. Ask yourself these
questions:

Who
is the audience for this presentation?

Why
are they attending?

What
is their general attitude toward you and the topic?

What
is their knowledge level on this topic?

Use the golden rule of journalism: “Tell them what you’re going
to tell them, Tell them, Tell them what you told them” to organize your
information.

Begin
at the end. Prepare your
presentation ending first. This is
helpful, because it keeps you focused on where you’re going.

Prepare
your presentation beginning. A good
beginning has two things: a hook, and an outline of your talk.

Fill
in the blanks with your content.

Design visuals to support and enhance what you are saying. Good visuals support the points you are
making, create audience interest, improve audience understanding, save you time
– a picture is worth a thousand words, and they are memory aids.

Practice, Practice, Practice.
There is an old saying, “practice makes up for a lack of talent”. Prior to getting in front of an audience, say
your presentation out loud – several times.
Listen to yourself. Consider
videotaping yourself. If you don’t have
the equipment, practice in front of a mirror, or your spouse, or your dog or
cat – just practice.

Here’s more information on how
to develop your talk…

People remember two things about
your talk: how you begin and how you finish.
They remember how you finish because that’s the last thing they
hear. You want to finish strong,
reinforcing and highlighting the main points you want people to remember. That’s one reason for writing your closing
first.

Another reason for writing your
closing first is because it will help you map out the rest of your
content. You’ll probably have more
information than you need for any presentation you make. If you write your closing first, you can use
it to help you decide what information to leave in and what to leave out of
your presentation.

For example, when I do my talk
“How to Create the Life and Career Success You Want and Deserve” I always end
by saying something like…

And
there you have it, my best advice on how to create the life and career success
you want and deserve.

It
comes down to Four Cs: clarity, commitment, confidence and competence.

If you
want to create a successful life and career, you have to

Clarify the purpose
and direction for your life and career.

Commit to taking
personal responsibility for your life and career success.

Hopefully,
you know more about how to create the life and career success you want and
deserve now than an hour ago. But, like
the US Steel pencils my dad would bring home from work used to say, “Knowing is
not enough.” You’ve got to use the
information you learned here today if you are going to create the life and
career success you want and deserve.”

When I was writing this talk, I
wrote this closing first. I began by
listing the key points I wanted to make – in this case the 4 Cs of
Success. Any time I was wondering if I
should include a specific piece of information in the talk, I asked myself,
“Does this information reinforce the point you want people to remember about
this talk?” If the answer was “yes,” I
left it in. If “no,” I took it out.

Now let’s talk about writing
your opening second.

You want to accomplish two
things in your presentation opening: 1) Capturing the audience’s attention, and
2) Giving them some idea of what you will be covering in your talk.

When I do my talk, “How to
Create the Life and Career Success You Want and Deserve” I always begin by
saying something like…

Hello
and thank you for coming. Today, I want
to dispel one of the biggest myths about life and career success. And that myth is, “good performance is enough
to create the life and career success you want and deserve.” Good performance not only is not enough, it
is merely the price of admission in today’s highly competitive world.

If you
want to create a successful life and career, think C – no, think 4 Cs…

Clarity,
Commitment, Confidence and Competence.

If you
want to create a successful life and career, you have to:

Clarify the purpose
and direction for your life and career.

Commit to taking
personal responsibility for your life and career success.

Over
the next hour, I’m going to tell you more about each of these four Cs and show
you how to put them to work to create the life and career success you want and
deserve…

See what I mean? I captured the audience’s attention by
telling them that I was going to explode a myth about life and career
success. Then I shared the myth. Then I outlined what I was going to cover in
the next hour.

This format is the golden rule
of journalism: Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them.
Tell them what you’ve told them.

By writing your closing first
and your opening second, you’ve done two of these: you’ve told your audience
what you’re going to tell them, and you’ve recapped what you’ve told them. Filling in the content becomes pretty simple
once you’ve completed these two steps.

Once you know what you’re going
to say you have to practice. I give
hundreds of talks every year and I practice before each one.

Fourth, you’ll need to get in
front of audiences. When you’re starting
out as a speaker this probably means speaking for free. Volunteer to do talks at local hospitals or
cancer support groups. This will do two
things for you: 1) give you the experience you need to deliver really high
quality talks, and 2) get you some much needed exposure. If you have the money you should hire a
professional videographer to record a couple of these talks that you can show
to prospective clients.

Fifth, you need exposure. Your blog is a good start. Keep blogging and expand your blog into a website. In addition to what you write, add video
clips to your site. Get testimonials from
satisfied clients. Consider writing an
eBook about your experience.

Becoming a paid professional
speaker takes a lot of work, but if it is truly what you want to do, you can do
it. I am happy to discuss these thoughts
with you.